Ok so I have made such a liar of myself lately. I have sworn that I never, ever, ever, freakin ever do memes, and here I am doing my second one in as many days. Geez am I lame or what. This one was just fun though!! So steal away, I can’t wait to see what others look like. And oh by the way. I gratuitously stole this idea from this blogging god, who by the way, stole it from Average Jane. I’m sure somebody somewhere had an original thought, but who knows, it’s on the internet after all.

The concept:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? right now?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. What is one word that describes you?
12. What is your flickr name?

Meme: A unit of cultural information that represents a basic idea that can be transferred from one individual to another, and subjected to MUTATION, CROSSOVER, and ADAPTATION. (After G.W. Flake’s The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer explorations of fractals, chaos, complex systems, and adaptation., MIT Press, 2000)

I never, never, ever, freaking ever participate in memes. Oh who am I kidding, I’ll try anything at least once or a few times. But you know, memes are those things that have always given me the feeling of selling out, and lacking creativity, and group think, and herd mentality, and going along with the crowd, and unoriginality, and all those other anti-anti-establishment things that all of us self-proclaimed prognosticators of libertarian freedom and ideals have taken such a stand against. But alas, I must admit, occasionally a thought provoking meme has made it’s way around the blogosphere that has peaked my interest and given me new fodder for my own self-expression. Although I don’t believe I have ever actually completed a meme in pure list form, I have blogged about the questions that have been asked.

However, today that all comes to an end. Today I will take the plunge. Even though this is not an official tagging kind of situation, I am going to follow the lead of Karl, of SecondHand Tryptophan fame who followed the lead of Adam, of Avitable who followed the lead of Steve, of Steve’s Nude Memphis Blog who claims in his title to have stolen it from Christie (couldn’t find the link, sorry). Ok, that’s how these things work, you get the point. So what’s different about this one? Why jump in now, you ask? This one just struck me as some quality question asking. Questions truly worthy of a response; questions that would invoke the self-flagellating gods of narcissistic angst and make them smile. So there you have it and here you have it:

Who are you? A self-proclaimed lover of total individual freedom and liberty.

What’s your Philosophy? Live and let live. Do no harm. Leave no trace.

First thoughts in the morning… Today is a new day for new beginnings; leave your regrets in the past; learn from yesterdays mistakes; lay aside what did harm; build upon what brought success and happiness; HIKE!!

Your current mood is…? Energized, sober, clear-thinking, happy

Where do you see yourself in 5 years… Moving down my self-made path toward my understanding of self-fulfillment, wherever that may be.

Define….

Life – The one true gift that all sentient beings possess that should not be squandered or taken for granted.

Love – The state of selflessness induced by the conscious decision of human beings to put the well being, perpetuation and fulfillment of others ahead of themselves.

Success – The attainment of total liberty. The freedom to be and do that which brings one to self-actualization.

Happiness – Nothing more than a state of mind that results from a conscious decision to enjoy the gifts of life as they are given and created in any given moment. Happiness is not a reactive result, but a proactive state of mind.

Death – At the lowest level: the biological non-functioning of the body. At a higher level: the eternal existence of the human soul outside the presence of God.

Fear – Biological: the primordial reflex of fight or flight the protects our lives from eminent outside dangers. Psychological: a self-induced state of being that is created by the healthy and unhealthy psyche that provides the ability to make both reasonable and unreasonable decisions regarding personal risk. Philosophical / Religious: a state of mind that results from dwelling on the unknown and uncontrollable future of non-existence.

What are your views on…

Abortion – If I may loosely quote Barak Obama: “no one is pro-abortion.” Abortion is always a difficult, sad and even horrible decision to be made and action to be taken. This is an ethical issue without an easy solution. The woman’s rights over her own body are undeniable. The unborn child’s right to life is undeniable. Society’s responsibility to assist by providing workable alternatives is undeniable. We, as the human race, must work tirelessly to overcome this dilemma.

Why poverty exists? – Because greed and selfishness predominate the societies of the world. Because humanity has failed to evolve beyond the starvation induced response of hoarding. Because elitism and class mentality still exist in the world.

The U.N – The beginnings of a human ideal. The U.N. has not arrived, and it is far from perfect, but it is the start of an organization that can grow to represent the unity and commonality of all of humanity.

Wars – (by wars I mean wars in general) – An absolute waste of human resources. Military action should only be undertaken in defense of unlawful aggressive action to protect one’s home property, family and society within globally accepted and defined national borders. Preemptive wars should be deemed anti-social and therefore internationally illegal.

Suicide – The pointless and sad act of a desperate and hopeless individual who, due to either mental illness or self-induced psychosis, has lost the capacity to reasonably understand the innate value of their existence.

Music Lyric- “Look at me and what you see is what you’ll see, ’cause I’ll be who I want to be”

Quote about Life – “Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”

Curse Word – Conservative Republican

Movie – The Godfather

Movie quote – “I’ve seen horrors… horrors that you’ve seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that… but you have no right to judge me. It’s impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face… and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared.” Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz, Apocolypse Now

Final Random Thoughts… Let us live life together. Give me the freedom to be and do what I want to be and do, and I will neither infringe upon your right to do the same, or judge you for your choices that differ from mine. We can all share our own unique personal liberty and coexist as a peaceful society.

What would be the best job in the world? – Professional Touring Musician

And the worst job would be? – Any kind of slaughter house work

What is your biggest accomplishment to date? – Remaining happily married for 27 years and fathering 4 fantastic children

What do you wish to accomplish in the next 5 years? – Position my family financially to be able to relax and play together more frequently

If you die tomorrow…

Who will speak at your funeral? – My father and my 3 grown children

What would you like your eulogy to say? – He lived life to the fullest, freely, without inhibition, and helped others do the same

How would you hope to leave this world? – Freer than I found it

Would you tell anyone you were going to die? – Only my wife and children, because I would want to have every available minute with them, and would not want anyone’s pity.

If you wrote a final letter to be read at your funeral what would it say – I will write it, and I choose not to share it until that time

Upon arriving at the pearly gates..what would God say to you? – You were not perfect, but you were honest and lived a life of integrity.

And finally..Your famous last words? – The only life worth living is the life of liberty

What does the word for “Dots” look like in braille? – Like dots… what else (wtf)?

What is a quick way to start a conversation? – Asking questions about the person you are addressing

And a quick way to end one?? – A loud noxious fart followed by a southern “hell yeah” will usually do the trick.